Disney Genie announcement

[Opie100]

Assume family of four; four (4) Disney World park days:

• Old way: Fast Passes - Free; planning ahead allowed
• Tier 2 new way: Genie: $15/per person = $60 per day x 4 days = $240
• Tier 1 new way: Lightning Pass (LP): $15/per ride (approx.) x 2 per day = $30 per person x 4 people = $120 x 4 days = $480
• Total new way: $720 ($180 more per person per trip for family of 4); planning ahead not allowed

Note: LP attractions could be more expensive

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Here are some questions that I think are still unanswered.

(1) When does this launch? "Fall" could be as soon as September 1 or as late as December 21.

(2) What are the rides that will cost extra and aren't included in Genie+?

(3) How will Disney allocate capacity between LL and standby? If a lot of people buy Genie+, Disney will have to either (A) allocate tons of capacity to it, making standby lines terrible, or (B) allow the LL times to run out relatively early in the day, making Genie+ a ripoff. How do they balance this?

(4) Will Disney attempt to solve this problem by releasing the LL passes for Genie+ rides intermittently throughout the day? If so, will there by "drop" times? Will people have to refresh like crazy to try to get lucky?

(5) With the tier-1 rides not included in Genie+, will Disney limit the amount sold to keep the standby wait reasonable? Will the dynamic pricing be enough to do the same? Or will the standby lines be miserable (thus encouraging people to pay to skip them)?

(5) How much will those extra tier-1 LL passes that aren't included in Genie+ cost? Approximately how much are we talking on a normal day, a crowded day, and an insanely crowded day?

(6) At 7:00 for onsite guests and park opening for offsite guests, can you book both of your tier-1 extras, or can you only book one of them? If only one, when can you book the second? After you scan in for the first one?

 

[Dead2009]

Imagine paying 24 bucks each time you wanna use the lightning line if you didnt do the Genie+ thing. That's a hard pass for me.

 

[Jennasis]

Am I completely out of my mind or did the Genie thing originally claim to grant wishes?? Like 3 wishes per guest? Did I imagine that or wasn't that a thing? Or at least a rumored thing.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Imagine paying 24 bucks each time you wanna use the lightning line if you didnt do the Genie+ thing.

The rides covered by those two things don't overlap. Genie+ gets you lightning lane access to most (but not all) rides for a flat daily fee. There is no a la carte ability to buy a lightning lane pass for any of those rides. The rides that you can purchase individual Lightning Lane access to are not included in Genie+ at all. And you can only purchase two of them per day.

 

[Delirium]

Assume: family of four; four (4) Disney World park days:

• Old way: Fast Passes - Free; planning ahead allowed
• New way: Genie: $15/per person = $60 per day x 4 days = $240
• New way: Lightning Pass: $15/per ride (approx.) x 2 per day = $30 per person x 4 people = $120 x 4 days = $480
• New way: TOTAL $720 ($180 more per person per trip for family of 4); planning ahead not allowed

Note: LP attractions could be more expensive

All true. But, just think about all of the quality time you get to spend with your phone. Next upcharge will be a fee to use an in-park phone charging station. They may even make that a Tier 1 experience..

 

[Delilah1310]

Doesn't the Extra Hours for DVC rotate between all 4 parks? (has there been more info released?) All the LL should be available to DVC with ease during those times..... hopefully...

Hopefully ... but so far, for October - the only dates released - it was just MK and EP for the extra evening hours.
all on property guests can start the day 30 minutes before non-resort guests ... every park, every day.
let me see if I can find the link.

 

[honeymo78]

My other thought to this is: waiting in line isn’t the end of the world.

so we buy the genie plus and use lightening lane for all the “tier 2” rides and then maybe we wait in the line for those top rides. I mean.. is that the worst thing ever?

I feel like folks act like if they can’t have fastpass they can’t ride.

the concerns with what if the return time you get in your first choice is later and then you can’t get another for a long time.. I really don’t think that will happen. I realllly think it will work like maxpass. I know it says make another after you have used it but maxpass had that language too and it used a timer as well as after you used it.


didn’t it say you would need to chose the next available time? So if you are logged on at 7am. The first time you are going to see is for park opening time.. so you choose your first one. But the parks are open to resort guests half hour early. So NO one has fastpass the first half hour. Rope drop a couple rides, hit your first fastpass and then immediately book the next fastpass. Everyone else staying on site will only have been able to book one and the day guests will just have been able to book their first one.. you will book your second probably for a late morning time. And by the time lunch rolls around you will have gone a good amount

those of you who don’t want to come to the parks early.. it says “starting at 7” you can watch the return times and start watching for times to align when you will get into the parks.

I've made similar points before about waiting in line not being the end of the world. I also don't think you need to be up and booking at 7am if you don't want a time within the first hour or 2 of park opening for most rides. The people who book at 7am for a 9-10am slot can't book another one until they have used that one. If you wake up at 8:30 and go to book, I'd think your times for most rides would be in the 10-noon ballpark (maybe later for more popular rides). You only get up early if you want an early time slot or are paying to select a time slot for something like SDMT.

It seems like rational thought is out the window though and I'm supposed to act like this is the worst thing that has ever happened and I'll never go back. I already have 3 trips planned for 2022 and none of this is making me cancel or second guess those trips. I'll likely buy G+ for at least a portion of those trips and maybe purchase 1-2 time slots each trip as well (but maybe not since lines are not an issue for my family). If we are rope dropping or trying for a BG, I'll be up at 7am, if not I'll be sleeping in and getting whatever G+ is available when I wake up, assuming I purchase it for that day.

 

[rangerxenos]

Here are some questions that I think are still unanswered.

(1) When does this launch? "Fall" could be as soon as September 1 or as late as December 21.

Without FP of any kind at the moment and crowd levels being pretty much back to normal, I think they're going to have to have it in place and working by the start of the 50th Anniversary on October 1st.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Am I completely out of my mind or did the Genie thing originally claim to grant wishes?? Like 3 wishes per guest? Did I imagine that or wasn't that a thing? Or at least a rumored thing.

It was a rumor. But maybe once Everything is unveiled it’ll be something we get.

 

[Lashed34]

I wonder how long it will take Genie & Genie+ will drain your phone of all power?

And how much the power packs will increase in cost...?

 

[TeddieM]

Onsite guests get to book their additional top tier LL ride at 7. Everyone gets to book the first genie ride at 7.

I still can’t believe the big genie perk to stay onsite is the opportunity to pay more money for what used to be a free experience after already being gouged to death with all the covid cuts.

It really feels like Disney is telling us, the guests, we’re doing you a favor by letting you visit our parks.

 

[Sjm9911]

I've made similar points before about waiting in line not being the end of the world. I also don't think you need to be up and booking at 7am if you don't want a time within the first hour or 2 of park opening for most rides. The people who book at 7am for a 9-10am slot can't book another one until they have used that one. If you wake up at 8:30 and go to book, I'd think your times for most rides would be in the 10-noon ballpark (maybe later for more popular rides). You only get up early if you want an early time slot or are paying to select a time slot for something like SDMT.

It seems like rational thought is out the window though and I'm supposed to act like this is the worst thing that has ever happened and I'll never go back. I already have 3 trips planned for 2022 and none of this is making me cancel or second guess those trips. I'll likely buy G+ for at least a portion of those trips and maybe purchase 1-2 time slots each trip as well (but maybe not since lines are not an issue for my family). If we are rope dropping or trying for a BG, I'll be up at 7am, if not I'll be sleeping in and getting whatever G+ is available when I wake up, assuming I purchase it for that day.

Unfortunately, times are a bit diffeent now. We used to be able to have a drink or snack in the line. With covid, thats out. So, I would rather not wait in a line. Before all this , we didn't mind, bexause we could eat and drink. Now, stranding in a line isn't as pleasant as it once was.

 

[Leight19]

Am I completely out of my mind or did the Genie thing originally claim to grant wishes?? Like 3 wishes per guest? Did I imagine that or wasn't that a thing? Or at least a rumored thing.

I believe one of the YouTube videos that described this (Len?) had mentioned some of the rumored things were not implemented likely due to techncal challenges. There was also rumors on this board before announcement the ap sales announcement was delayed so this could roll out first. This makes me believe there was some additional tie ins that either got dropped due to difficulty implementing or will be announced later with ap system.

 

[JakeAZ]

Forcing you to grab the next available time isn't great. Especially if park hopping is involved.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Am I completely out of my mind or did the Genie thing originally claim to grant wishes?? Like 3 wishes per guest? Did I imagine that or wasn't that a thing? Or at least a rumored thing.

It’s pretty surreal that Disney has gotten us all so brainwashed that being able to experience an attraction for which we’ve paid upwards of $150/person for the day has got us WISHING. Whew.

 

[ckb_nc]

I did see that you can book in multiple parks. I can see them allowing you to book a later FP in a different park even if you aren’t in the park. At least this way they know how many people plan on hopping had to where. Or maybe that will just be for the tier 1s you pay for.

I dont see them letting you book one than one more park a day reservation - in theory I could book all four parks (and yes I have done 4 and 1 more than once )and create ghost space in the parks. Park hopping is a privilege not a right. If I remember correctly, I had to be in the Parks or near DL to use MaxPass. I don't expect to be able G+ after my first park reservation of the day unless I am literally near the park (standing at the entrance).

Tiers 1 get well interesting - lets say I got HS with my park reservation, would Disney allow me to "buy" access to Tron for say 5pm if my tickets allowed park hopping? If they do, it has to guarantee entry?? I have a hard time seeing them let me do that but the almighty dollar wins

 

[Opie100]

Am I correct that buying Genie+ may mean only one attraction per day -- for example, party of four enter, they want Smugglers Run, time available is 6:30pm, once they use that they try for another attraction and nothing left?

 

[twodogs]

As a person who went to DLR and WDW many times (pre-COVID) and enjoyed the MaxPass system at DLR, this sounds similar. For MP, you could add it to your multi-day ticket all at once when you purchased the ticket, or you could add it day by day once you were there. So you could choose the days that you wanted to pay for MP and choose days that it might not be worth it to you (maybe arrival or departure days which would be short and not “worth it”). Maybe Genie + will be the same.

I know lots of folks are upset that you can’t book any in advance like FP+, but this works great for those who tend to book last minute trips. It also gives everyone an equal shot for those LLs on the day. I really loved this at DLR.

I would like to see them allow you to stack LL bookings like they did with MP. That was amazing!!

With MP, you did not get to choose your return time either, you just got the next available time. But you could “refresh” and often earlier times would pop up (presumably from others canceling FPs, but maybe they were dropping more FPs at times based on real time ride conditions). So the folks who are upset about that aspect, once you become savvy with it (and the people on this board certainly will), you will find that you don’t have to take that return time of 3 hours from now, usually!

 

[Poor Gail]

So yet again Annual Passholders get hosed. I already pay a chunk every month for our passes. There is no way on earth I can pull together another $45 every two or three weeks, which is how often my daughters and I go to a park. It's already gotten to the point where we can barely afford one QS meal while we are there, and carry lots of snacks/drink water.

My only satisfaction is knowing that all the people I've heard howling for years about how much better things were before Fastpass (spoiler alert, they weren't) will get it in the neck. They either get to cough green or stand in the three hour lines with us common rabble.